I volunteer every Sunday at Elevation Church caring for little blessings ranging between 1 & 2 years of age while their parents enjoy service with no distractions. Some of our babies are "regulars", and we always have new comers. Some adjust wonderfully, and others struggle a bit. Either way, it's rare that any of them fall asleep. This week, two of our newer babies were a little sad, and they eventually fell asleep in Katie's lap. One on one leg, and one on the other leg. As we approached snack time, the girls asked me...should we wake them for snack? "No" I quickly replied. For craft? "Nope" once again. How about for diaper change? Once again-NEGATIVE. Service is about an hour and 15 minutes, and I can guarantee that all of those babies come in the door with a fresh diaper on.
Never wake up a sleeping baby. If they are hungry, they will let you know. If they have "discomfort" in their diaper, they will let you know that too. I made this mistake as a first time mother with my daughter. "oh, it's exactly 180 minutes since the last time she ate....wake the colicky baby that was screaming for 2 hours straight because statistically she should be eating right now." I laugh at myself when I think about it too. That baby rarely slept, and here i am disturbing her, only to bring her to another outburst of gut wrenching hours of screaming. I should have let her sleep. When she was hungry, She would have "waked up". Unless a baby is sleeping 5/6 hours straight (I am speaking of an infant), they had a bowel movement and they are sleeping through it, or the sleep is going to interfere with their night-time sleep, NEVER wake a baby. I never woke my son, and he is still here, perfectly healthy, far from malnourished, and always wakes up happy. And never wake a baby who fell asleep upset. I promise you, they will wake up just as upset, or worse. Whatever you do, don't wake the baby.
Never wake up a sleeping baby. If they are hungry, they will let you know. If they have "discomfort" in their diaper, they will let you know that too. I made this mistake as a first time mother with my daughter. "oh, it's exactly 180 minutes since the last time she ate....wake the colicky baby that was screaming for 2 hours straight because statistically she should be eating right now." I laugh at myself when I think about it too. That baby rarely slept, and here i am disturbing her, only to bring her to another outburst of gut wrenching hours of screaming. I should have let her sleep. When she was hungry, She would have "waked up". Unless a baby is sleeping 5/6 hours straight (I am speaking of an infant), they had a bowel movement and they are sleeping through it, or the sleep is going to interfere with their night-time sleep, NEVER wake a baby. I never woke my son, and he is still here, perfectly healthy, far from malnourished, and always wakes up happy. And never wake a baby who fell asleep upset. I promise you, they will wake up just as upset, or worse. Whatever you do, don't wake the baby.
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